The Serpent

Gameshouse Novella 1

By: Claire North

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

In this adventure novel set in 17th-century Venice, one brave woman dares to compete in the higher league of a mysterious establishment known as the Gamehouse.

There, fortunes are made and fortunes are broken over games of chess, backgammon and every other game under the sun.

But those whom fortune favours may be invited to compete in the higher league . . . a league where the games played are of politics and empires, of economics and kings. It is a league where Capture the Castle involves real castles, where hide and seek takes place on a scale as big as the British Isles.

Not everyone proves worthy of competing in the higher league. But one woman, who is about to play, may just exceed everyone's expectations.

Though she must always remember: the higher the stakes, the more deadly the rules . . .

Critic reviews

"An astonishing re-invention of the time travel narrative. Bold, magical and masterful."—Mike Carey, on The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Great idea. Poor writing

I very much like the idea behind The Serpent. Claire North is a brilliant mind. Her ideas so far have all been incredibly unique.

The Serpent is a story about a young wife who is swept up into a game where the pieces are real people, the board is the city of Venice, and the moves have real implications on world events.

I did not enjoy the writing style of North. Its very dry. It hardly ever moves with a passion. You can tell that North has no knack for writing itself. She does though have a knack for ideas. The idea here saves this story from total loss. I'd recommend this novella if you are wanting to explore something new. Its short. Its a great idea. And once you are done, your left with some new thoughts.

Loved it

I'm a big Claire North fan and this series isn't letting me down. I'm about halfway through the third novella and my only complaint is this is the end of it. Peter Kenny is great too!

Great Novella

Great series with an interesting new concept. The characters are strong and the narration is fantastic. I quickly went through all three in the series. Worth the credit.

not like her other books

I gave it about an hour of listening, and still couldn't care about the story or the characters. I've liked her other books, but this one just comes up short.